Rappahannock stuck in the 80s

As a landowner in Rappahannock County, I can say that it has really been troubling to me our inability to enter the twenty-first century technologically. When I was a practicing physician, it was really difficult for me to stay in touch with the hospital in Warrenton. We had pagers for a while that meant they could let me know that someone needed to talk to me or needed me in the ER, but I never knew why until I could get to a phone somewhere.

Hence, every call had to be treated as an emergency. Strange, that is still the case for anyone in a position of responsibility in Rappahannock, even though we are now in the 21st century.

As I drive along route 211, I enjoy watching each telephone or power line pole coming towards me, at some point each one occupies an area of the sky as though it were a cell phone monopole, but I don’t find that menacing. I find it reassuring because it means we can enjoy the wonders of electricity and convenience of a telephone.

Why is it that some of us don’t also take pleasure in a cell tower, which can connect us at any time to the outside world or the close world, whichever is needed?

I would defy a stranger driving up 211 to identify the cell towers as he passes them, even though the one at Ben Venue and the one at Amissville are monopoles. The one at Ben Venue is hidden in the woods on the side of a mountain. Don’t we have enough mountains and woods to hide cell towers to cover the whole county? We are getting houses on top of many of our mountains that are certainly more obtrusive than a monopole.

It is really frustrating to be able to see a cell tower and lose all connection as I turn off of 211. This is because many of our towers are very directional, designed to give service to drivers on 211. If you ask the county administrators why that is so, they say that it is because the telephone companies insist on them being directional. If you then call the telephone companies and pose the same question, they say that it is because the county administration insists on it. Where does the truth lie? If the existing cell towers were not directional, it would improve some coverage.

It is really strange to me that as I drive from Clevenger’s Corner towards Amissville I begin to lose coverage, even though I can now see the monopole behind the firehouse in Amissville. It was my understanding that when in the recent past some of the monopoles were allowed to increase in height, it was agreed that they would then all allow all carriers such as AT&T and Verizon to broadcast from all towers rather than the towers just being for Sprint. Did I understand that wrong?

A lot of the work done in Rappahannock County is dangerous. Farming and logging are known to be among the most dangerous of all occupations. It would be so comforting to loved ones to know that those they love are just a cell phone call away in the event of trouble.

I had a friend on a farm in our area who had to cut off part of his hand with his pocket knife when it was caught in a corn silage chopper. He had no phone and was alone. My farming brother and his wife try to stay in touch with walkie talkies. How quaint, in an age when many people conduct all of their life’s work on cell phones that people in our county are using technology of the 80's to stay in touch. I never thought to ask them if they have “handles” or nicknames.

My grandkids in Falls Church and Mount Laurel, New Jersey are being educated online during this crisis. Many college kids are finding that online learning may be better than being on a college campus and potentially much cheaper. Yet here we are in Rappahannock, and some of Fauquier County, are still debating whether a single pole in the sky is going to ruin our lives. Could it be that our priorities and values are skewed?

The writer lives in Woodville and Warrenton.